


Join Us

by Andraste



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Community: fst, Fanmix, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-01
Updated: 2011-04-01
Packaged: 2017-12-08 04:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andraste/pseuds/Andraste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fanmix for <i>Dragon Age: Origins</i>, available on 8tracks for your listening pleasure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Join Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sephirajo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirajo/gifts).



> Made for Requests month on the [The Fan Soundtrack Project](http://fst.livejournal.com/) livejournal community. The notes contain spoilers for the entire game.

_Origins_ is the first game in the _Dragon Age_ series, and introduces the player to the fantasy world of Thedas and the Grey Wardens.

[Listen to this soundtrack on 8tracks.](http://8tracks.com/draste/join-us-a-dragon-age-origins-fst/)

**1\. The Darkspawn: Bleeding Me by Metallica**

It is told that the first of the darkspawn were once men: Tevinter mages who used dark magic in their quest for power and immortality. Whatever the truth, more than a thousand years ago the monstrous creatures first appeared in the Deep Roads. Corrupting an ancient dragon Old God, they then swarmed across the surface and almost wiped out the Dwarven kingdoms underground. Since then, they have risen four more times, and each time they have been put down by the Grey Wardens. Between incursions on the surface, they do little but dig, following the siren call of the Old Gods that they inevitably corrupt.

_"The Chantry teaches us that it is the hubris of men which brought the darkspawn into our world. The mages had sought to usurp Heaven. But instead, they destroyed it. They were cast out, twisted and cursed by their own corruption. They returned as monsters, the first of the darkspawn. They became a Blight upon the lands, unstoppable and relentless."_

 

It has been four centuries since the last Blight, and many on the surface have forgotten the darkspawn and the Grey Wardens. The peace will not last. Someone will once again be called upon to turn the tide that threatens the land. A raw recruit, new to the Grey Wardens: you. You are ...

**2\. Corrupted: Eden by Sarah Brightman**

... a Dalish elf, a member of one of the clans that roam Thedas. It is a hard life, but you are proud of your freedom and your culture. When you hear of an ancient elven ruin in the forest where your clan has camped, your friend Tamlen insists on investigating. The ruin holds more than elven secrets, though: it is infested with darkspawn. When your friend touches a corrupted artefact, you are infected with the darkspawn disease and Tamlen disappears. In order to be cured, you must leave your clan.

_We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last elvhen. Never again shall we submit. -The Oath of the Dales_

**3\. Casteless: Golden Boy by Natalie Merchant**

... a casteless dwarf. Born without caste in a society where caste is everything, you are the lowest of the low. Forced to work for a crime lord while your sister Rica hunts for a noble to fill her womb, you have few options. And yet, after a job for your boss goes horribly wrong in all the right ways, you are about to learn that even the path of the casteless is not set in the Stone. Exiled to the surface to join the Grey Wardens, perhaps you will rise higher than anyone ever imagined.

_What would them humans think if they came to Dust Town and saw how the rest of us really lived? The ones that are casteless, the ones who aren't even considered worthy of being servants in the homes of the wealthy or pure enough to work the forges in the Shaperate. The nobles make sure we casteless get tattooed so they know who we are when they see us. That way they know who to spit on, right? Helps us, too. Makes it easier to figure out whose pockets are worth picking._

_That's a joke. Not all of the casteless are criminals. Some of us are beggars, nug-catchers, street sweepers, and noble hunters. We do what we can to survive._

**4\. Conscripted: Deep Red Bells by Neko Case**

... a city elf. Born into Denerim's alienage, you have known a life of squalor and degradation under the thumb of the humans. On the day of your arranged wedding, it's about to get much, much worse. The ceremony is interrupted by a noble's son demanding his way with the bridal party - and when the dust of the riots has cleared, you will find yourself left to shoulder the blame. Only the intervention of the Grey Wardens saves your neck from the noose.

_There have always been alienages. They have been around for as long as elves and shems have lived in the same lands. Ours isn't even the worst: They say that Val Royeaux has ten thousand elves living in a space no bigger than Denerim's market. Their walls are supposedly so high that daylight doesn't reach the vhenadahl until midday._

**5\. Harrowed: Demons by Guster**

... a mage. Raised in the Circle tower, you have known no other life. Surrounded by your fellow mages and always under the watchful eyes of the Templars, you have trained for many years to control the power inside you. Today, that training reaches its culmination: you will be harrowed. A demon will be forced into your body so that you can prove you ability to resist it. By the time the night is over, you will have been forced to betray the Circle or your friend. Either way you won't be seeing the tower again for some time.

_The Circle of Magi exists to protect mages from a world that fears them, or so the young apprentices that are brought there are told. In truth, it exists as much to protect the world from the mages themselves. A time once existed when mages ruled the known world, bringing down ruin upon their enemies until at last they were overthrown. Now they are watched carefully by the Templars, mage-hunters aligned with the Chantry priests who would not hesitate to strike down any mage at the first sign of corruption._

**6\. Last of Your Line: Kid Fears by Indigo Girls**

... a human noble. You are the younger child of Teryn Cousland, your family has ruled Highever for generations. Now your brother and father are to ride out to fight the darkspawn horde while you are left behind to look after the estate. Your life is left in ruins when Arl Rendon Howe turns his army against your home instead of the darkspawn. Your family and retainers slaughtered, you are the only survivor - saved only by the intervention of a Grey Warden recruiter. With no choice but to join his organisation, you will have to put justice for the Coulands aside to deal with the Blight.

_"Your parents died on their knees. Your brother's corpse rots in Ostagar; and his brat was burned on a scrap heap, along with his Antivan whore of a wife. And what's left? A fool husk of a child likely to end their days under a rock in the Deep Roads. Even the Wardens are gone. You are the last of nothing. This is pointless ... You've lost."_

**7\. Kinslayer: In Flames You Burn by Dream Evil**

... a noble dwarf. You are the second child of king Endrin Aeducan, scion of Orzammar's ancient protectors, newly raised to your first military command. Family strife will destroy your position and threaten your life, as your younger brother Bhelen plots against both his older siblings to take the throne for himself. Saved from an ignominious death in the Deep Roads by a Grey Warden, you must travel to the surface world. Far from everything you have known, perhaps you can reclaim your honour.

 _Below ground, the dwarves are a people obsessed with honour--their own, and that of their family. Most nobles incorporate chainmail even into formal gowns, because slights and insults often turn deadly._

**8\. Duncan: I Will Not Eat the Darkness by Over the Rhine**

Whoever you are, you have been saved and condemned to Grey Warden service by one man: Duncan. The leader of the few Wardens in Ferelden sees your potential and takes you south to the fortress of Ostagar where the king's forces face the darkspawn horde. Duncan has misgivings about Ferelden's approach to fighting the Blight, but he will take his men into battle at the king's side regardless. He places his trust in you, despite your inexperience.

_"From here, you two are on your own. Remember, you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of that title."_

**9\. Morrigan: Bloodsport by Sneaker Pimps**

Near Ostagar, you encounter a potential ally: Morrigan, daughter of Flemeth, the fabled witch of the Wilds. As a mage who refuses the supervision of the Chantry, is she a dangerous Apostate or a brave rebel against their oppression? Will she be a loyal companion or a threat? Whatever choice you make, the danger she presents may be alluring ...

_"Well, well, what have we here? Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones have been long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn filled wilds of mine in search of easy prey?"_

**10\. Ostagar: The Last One Alive by VAST**

The battle of Ostagar is an unmitigated disaster. Loghain Mac Tir, the king's greatest general and father-in-law, betrays his monarch and the Grey Wardens by quitting the field with his men. Abandoned, King Cailan, Duncan and the rest of the Grey Wardens are slaughtered by the army of darkspawn. Only two are known to have escaped by the intervention of an outsider: you, and your companion Alistair, who has been a Warden only six months. 

_"I cannot wait for that glorious moment. The Grey Wardens battle beside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil."_

**11\. Alistair: More Heart Than Me by My Friend the Chocolate Cake**

Alistair is a powerful warrior, a former Templar trainee who revered the Grey Wardens and looked up to Duncan as an adoptive father. While his sword arm is strong, he has no desire for command and will look to you for direction and support your leadership. He may be able to provide you with a different kind of support as well ...

_"What? Lead? Me? No, no, no. No leading. Bad things happen when I lead. We get lost, people die, and the next thing you know I'm stranded somewhere without any pants."_

**12\. Dog: The Dog Song by Nellie McKay**

Lucky for you, life as a Grey Warden isn't all doom and gloom. Whatever happens, you have one faithful ally who will never abandon you: your Mabari hound. The people of Ferelden value their dogs, and the Mabari above all. A powerful warrior, your dog is also a bright spot in a dark world. And he likes cake.

 _"You are a true warrior, and worthy of respect."_

**13\. Lothering: Have You Heard by Thea Gilmore**

When you make your way from the ruin of Ostagar back to what passes for an outpost of civilisation this close to the Kocari Wilds, you find that things are even worse than you thought. Not only did Loghain betray the king, he has accused the Grey Wardens of his own crime and placed a bounty on your head for the murder of King Cailan. The villagers of Lothering hardly cares whether you are a criminal or not, too preoccupied with fleeing the darkspawn to worry about reporting Grey Wardens.

**14\. Leliana: Secret Spell by Tori Amos**

There are others in Lothering who are friendlier than the locals. In the tavern you encounter trouble in the form of Loghain's men, and help from a Chantry sister with an unexpected talent for battle. It turns out that Sister Leliana was not always a peaceful denizen of the church. She is an exiled Orlesian bard with skills that can help you on your journey and a heart that may open itself to you.

 _"I came to Ferelden and the Chantry because I was being hunted. I walked where the Maker led me and he has rewarded me for my faith. I found you."_

**15\. Sten: Imagine by A Perfect Circle**

Lothering has one other remarkable thing to show you. In a cage, they hold a captive Qunari. The fearsome giants are seldom seen south of Par Vollen, but Sten is a member of the Beresaad sent to investigate the Blight. If you free him, he will fight beside you and learn more of darkspawn than he could ever have expected. Perhaps you will also learn something of the mysterious Qunari.

_"Happiness is fragile. Nothing can be built upon it that will last. Only duty endures."_

**16\. Redcliffe: I Disappear by The Faint**

Alistair suggests that your first step in raising an army against the Blight should be to appeal to Arl Eamon Guerrin, Cailan's uncle and a powerful potential ally. Unfortunately, when you reach his castle at Redcliff, you find it under siege by zombies and the Arl himself deathly ill. The cause and solution to both your problems may be lie with the Arl's son, Connor.

**17\. Zevran: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by Santa Esmerelda**

On the road, you are attacked by assassins sent by Loghain. When you interrogate their leader, he makes a surprising offer. Since he has failed in his missions, Zevran's life is forfeit to the formidable Antivan Crows, and he offers to put in in your hands instead. The rogue has many talents, and if he has his way he'll show you more than the ones that involve stabbing people.

_"I could also stand here and look pretty, if you prefer. Warm your bed? Fend off unwanted suitors? No?"_

**18\. Shale: I Pity Inanimate Objects by Godley & Creme**

In a village near the the Kocari Wilds, another potential ally awaits, the strangest of all. Shale is a golem, an ancient dwarven war machine created with lost technology, but it does not behave as one might expect. Most golems are mindless automatons, subject to the whims of whoever holds their control rod. Shale has become free and sentient and fights beside you because it desires to do so - as long as a few pigeons get crushed along the way.

_"My heart does not qualify as shiny. I kill. Frequently, and not without pleasure."_

**19\. The Urn of Sacred Ashes: The Song of the Sibyl by Dead Can Dance**

Having overcome Redcliffe's zombie infestation, you are still left to deal with the problem of the gravely ill Arl. Poisoned by an agent of Loghain's, he lies close to death and nothing an wake him. His wife believes that only one thing will bring him back to the waking world, the fabled ashes of Andraste. Finding the worldly remains of a prophet lost thousands of years ago will be no trivial task, however.

_"There was a passage in one of the books I read... how some of Andraste's followers gave their lives to the fire, to become Her eternal guardians. Isn't that beautiful?"_

**20\. Broken Circle: A Dark Time by October Project**

Seeking to build an army to combat the Blight, your next destination is the tower that houses the mages of Ferelden, but they too have troubles of their own. The tower is beset by abominations and demons, and if you are to find anyone left alive to recruit, you and your companions must venture inside to investigate their source.

_"A mage is but the larval form of something greater! Your Chantry vilifies us, calls us abominations when we have truly reached our full potential!"_

**21\. Wynne: Pilgrim by Enya**

The Circle is not without its own defences - the first thing you meet that is not an abomination or a possessed corpse is Wynne. Another survivor of the battle of Ostagar, she is willing to join you in your quest to defeat the Blight in return for saving her fellow mages. Whether you think she's a wise advisor or an interfering old biddy, she's a loyal and powerful friend to have.

_"I'm not the sort of person that leaves things unfinished. I'll see this through, I promise."_

**22\. The Nature of the Beast: Cry For the Moon by Epica**

Next you must venture into the Brecilian Forest to seek the aid of the elusive Dalish elves. Beset by a plague of werewolves, the elves will need your assistance before they can offer theirs - but everything may not be as it seems when it comes to the link between elves and wolves.

_"You are my maker Zathrian. You gave me form and consciousness where none existed. I have known pain and love, hope and fear, all the joy that is life. Yet of all things, I desire nothing more than an end. I beg you maker, put an end to me ... we beg you ... have mercy."_

**23\. Orzammar: Kingdom by VNV Nation**

The underground kingdom of the dwarves is the last place you must go to seek allies, but they are more concerned with their own political intrigues than fighting the Blight on the surface. With Endrin's eldest children dead, his youngest son Bhelan is trying to claim the throne for himself. Not everyone in the Assembly supports him, however, and until a candidate is chosen there will be nobody to order the army to fight.

_"No one is born with rights to the throne. The sitting king may recommend a successor, but the Assembly ultimately decides who will rule."_

**24\. The Deep Roads: Intension by Tool**

The only way to settle on a king is to find someone with higher authority than the Assembly - the Paragon Branka. But Branka disappeared into the Deep Roads two years ago, and nobody knows if she is even still alive. Few would dare to brave the breeding grounds of the darkspawn, but you have no choice but to do just that. In their warrens you will face hordes of them, and discover at last the terrible secret of how they are bred.

_The darkspawn rule the Deep Roads now. When Orzammar sealed off the entrances to the Deep Roads, abandoning everything that lay out there, we handed over the kingdom-that-was to those black bastards forever. To think that there are genlocks crawling over Bownammar now, tearing down our statues and defiling our greatest works! Corruption covers everything we built out there. Every dwarf who goes out and comes back says that it gets worse with each passing year, the foulness spread a little further._

**25\. Oghren: Fuck You, I'm Drunk by Bondo**

There's one other person willing to enter the Deep Roads - Oghren, Branka's husband. Once the pride of the Warrior Caste, he was left behind when Branka undertook her expedition, and is now disgraced and forbidden from bearing arms within the city bounds. He may be short on social graces and spend most of his days drunk in Tapster's Tavern, but you'll find him more than capable of swinging an axe in the right direction.

_"If you've ever heard of me before, it's probably all been about how I piss ale and murder little boys who look at me wrong. And that's mostly true."_

**26\. Loghain: Megalomaniac by Incubus**

With an army finally assembled, there is one more obstacle before you are free to deal with the Blight: Loghain Mac Tir. He has claimed rulership of the kingdom as his daughter's regent, and despite his recent dubious actions it will not be easy to turn the nobles against the hero of River Dane. Inevitably, someone must face Loghain himself in single combat for the fate of Ferelden.

_"None of you deserve a say in what happens here! None of you have spilled blood for this land the way I have! HOW DARE YOU JUDGE ME?"_

**27\. A Dark Promise: Pray Your Gods by Toad the Wet Sprocket**

With Loghain dealt with one way or another, the only problem remaining is how to defeat the Archdemon, the corrupted Old God that leads the Blight. There is a secret to this that only the Grey Wardens know: only they can truly slay the dragon, and one of their number must be sacrificed to this end. However, there may be a way out of this for you and your allies, if you're willing to listen to Morrigan and do as she asks ...

_"I have a plan, you see. A way out? The loop in your hole."_

**28\. The Final Onslaught: The Death Song by Marilyn Manson**

At long last, with an army behind you, you turn your wrath on the Archdemon itself. When the battle for Denerim is over, the Blight will be over, one way or another.

_"When from the blood of battle the Stone has fed, let the heroes prevail, and the blighters lie dead. As one of the blighters, I sodding salute you. Let's show them our hearts - and then show them theirs."_

**29\. The Ultimate Sacrifice: When I Go by Dave Carter and Tracey Grammar**

Whether you accept Morrigan's offer of a reprieve or not, the story of a Grey Warden can only end one way. If you do not fall to the Archdemon, eventually the taint in your blood will take hold and you will go to the Deep Roads as the other Grey Wardens before you, to end your life fighting the darkspawn before it overwhelms you.

_"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten ... and that one day, we shall join you."_

**30\. The Hand that Feeds by Nine Inch Nails**

Whatever you are, queen or sacrifice, Paragon or exile, it is the sum of your choices.

_In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice. - Grey Warden motto_


End file.
